After successfully hosting last yearâ€™s Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four Basketball Finals come to town for an exciting weekend, whether a fan of college hoops or not.
The Final Four is expected to bring 94,000-out-of town visitors
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Yes, Katy Perry is one of my guilty pleasure. While I wasn't that into her singles from Teenage Dream (including "California Gurls" and the repetitive "Firework"), her new single, "The One That Got Away", was a hit for me.â€¦

Popstar Kesha is now free to work on (new) music (Zedd and Kesha's recent single â€˜True Colorsâ€™ is out now on Interscope / Kemosabe / RCA Records). It should be noted that â€˜True Colorsâ€™
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As fun as rainbow cotton candy at a carnival, and more colorful than an exploding Skittles factory--

The March Madness Music Festival saved the best for last as Katy Perry and Zedd played to a capacity Armory in downtown Minneapolis, on the last night of the three-day indoor music festivities.

As part of the weekend entertainment activities based around the city hosting the NCAA Final Four Basketball Championship for the first time since 2001, this would be the third of three consecutive nights of free concerts (after The Chainsmokers/Judah and the Lion and Jonas Brothers/Elle King) held this year at a much smaller indoor venue (rather than a typical outdoor open field or parking lot), from fear of Minnesotaâ€™s early April ever-changing weather, so tickets as a whole, were scarce.

Zedd is the musical nom de plume of Russian-German DJ, producer, multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Anton Zaslavski, (who stylized the first letter of his last name to get his alter-ego) and who proved to be an ideal choice to rev the sold-out crowd up during his hour-long opening DJ set. Drawing on tracks from his two albums, multiple singles, and numerous collaborations, the mix ebbed and flowed continuously beginning with 2015â€™s â€˜Beautiful Nowâ€™.

Perched atop a DJ platform, lights flashed and on-screen visuals (patterns, shapes, colors and his own logo) swirled and moved with the rhythm and BPM of the tracks. The first half of his set leaned heavier on collaborations, with some covers and influences mixed in, jumping from present day to a 1990 sampled riff from AC/DC, then even back to 1987 and Whitney Houston.

Just over halfway through, the crowd got a very pleasant surprise as Katy Perry strutted on stage and up and down the extended catwalk in high white boots and an orange studded dress with matching beret, for the first live public performance of the duoâ€™s recent collaboration, â€˜365â€™.

With the crowd still loud, Zedd resumed his set, ending with a quintet of the most well-known songs he has appeared on- from his collaboration with Alessia Cara, to an Ariana Grande remix, to his chart-topping â€˜The Middleâ€™ with Maren Morris. To end things, Zedd took it back to the beginning, to 2012â€™s â€˜Clarityâ€™, the Grammy-winning song that topped the US Dance charts and became his breakthrough song.

Celebrities were easily seen in the second-level VIP section, including Josh Duhamel (who graciously came down to shake hands and take selfies), Charles Barkley, Kenny Smith, former TV BachelorBen Higgins, former athletes, and broadcast personalities from CBS, ABC, and ESPN.

With a colorful stage set that was part-Willy Wonka, part-Patrick Nagel, Katy Perry was picture-perfect and musically precise for her ninety-minute headlining set. Springing out of her Witness Tour (which ended last August) and perhaps a precursor to a rumored Las Vegas residency, this one-off show was exactly the kind of pop-filled confection the crowd had come to see and hear.

Similar to her previous tour, the set started with two songs from her most recent album, with Perry in a multi-colored short dress and high red-latex boots. Her band members spread out on various platforms in matching black and white wardrobes, with six costumed-changing dancers hovering around her.

â€œEverybody knows that I like ballsâ€¦ big, orange basketballsâ€ she teased, â€œthis is a very special show, just for you, Minni!â€

â€œShall we take it all the way to the eighties?â€ she asked as her dancers surrounded her for a bubbly â€˜Teenage Dreamâ€™. â€œThis is rock and roll...actually, I call it pop and rollâ€, Perry said correcting herself and thanking the crowd for staying up, playing a later show than normal for her.

Two enterprising local gentlemen (Dave from Shakopee and Colin from Eden Prairie) dressed as the blue sharks made famous from her Super Bowl appearance, and were allowed on stage during â€˜California Gurlsâ€™ to dance with Perry- â€œevery time I invite sharks on stage, they steal the showâ€. Perry and her six dancers even elevated over the stage at one point, sitting and singing on a long yellow beam as it rose to near the top of the large set.

â€œDo any of you believe in aliens?â€ she asked leading into â€˜E.T.â€™ followed by the suggestive hip-hop thump of â€˜Peacockâ€™, and things would then slow down nicely as Perry picked up an acoustic guitar for â€˜The One That Got Awayâ€™. So nice they played it twice, Zedd returned to the stage for another performance of the new â€˜365â€™.

Her makeup crew did a quick touch up as Perry mentioned the cameras would roll to show a couple of performances on television the following night during the championship game (though I didnâ€™t see anything) as â€˜Part of Meâ€™ was sped up in tempo and the basketball-themed â€˜Swish Swishâ€™ seemed like the theme song of the weekend.

The throb of â€˜Pendulumâ€™ and bombast of â€˜Fireworkâ€™ would end the evening, complete with multi-colored confetti blasts, streamers, and a balloon drop, filling the arena with a swath of primaries, pastels, and brights.

With the teams now decided (New England Patriots vs. Philadelphia Eagles) and plans finalized with the game less than two weeks away, Super Bowl LII is coming to Minneapolis at US Bank Stadium on Sunday, February 4.
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For the second consecutive year, Minneapolis will be in the national sport spotlight this coming weekend (with A-list music coming to town too)--

After successfully hosting last yearâ€™s Super Bowl, the NCAA Final Four Basketball Finals come to town for an exciting weekend, whether a fan of college hoops or not.

The Final Four is expected to bring 94,000-out-of town visitors who will spend $168 million in the Twin Cities, according to a recently released study from Rockport Analytics.

After several nail-biting regional games- the four teams are set â€“ Auburn, Texas Tech (both in their first Final Four appearance), Virginia (making their first appearance since 1984) and Michigan State, with the semi-final games happening on Saturday, and National Championship game played on Monday night.

Among the other related activities are the NCAA Fan Fest Fri-Mon at the Convention Center, Tip-Off Tailgate happening outside along Nicollet Mall with a large Ferris Wheel, and the March Madness Music Series headlined by the March Madness Music Festival at The Armory, Fri-Sun.

NCAA Fan Fest is described as a "sports wonderland" and includes interactive games, celebrity and athlete appearances, autographs, home run derby, rock climbing and more.

Tickets are $8 in advance or $10 at the door with kids 12 and under free.

Capital One cardholders who show their card will enjoy free and early admission and enter through a priority entry line.

Musically, there is a series of Free concerts at the Tip-Off Tailgate on a stage at 11th/Nicollet, highlighted by Fitz and the Tantrums, playing Monday outdoors at 6p, just before the championship game.

The main musical events happen at the nearby Armory, featuring The Chainsmokers on Friday (who just dropped new single, â€˜Kills You Slowlyâ€™), The Jonas Brothers on Saturday (whoâ€™s new single â€˜Suckerâ€™ is huge and who played their last show here before breaking up) and culminating with Katy Perry and Zedd on Sunday (who just collaborated on recent single, â€˜365â€™).

Usually, these free shows happen outdoors in an area that holds 30-40,000 people, but with organizers unsure about the weather, they were booked into the much smaller 8,400 capacity Armory. Tickets were made available online, but within minutes, were all spoken for.

For the basketball fan or not, March Madness in Minneapolis has something for everyone.

10 a.m. - Final Four Friday at U.S. Bank Stadium- Fans can get in free of charge and watch teams practice before the national semifinals. Practices begin at 10 a.m. and it ends with the College All-Star Game beginning at 3:30 p.m.

2 p.m. - NCAA Final Four Dribble at Minneapolis Convention Center- Kids ages 18 and younger are invited to grab a basketball and dribble in a basketball parade scheduled for 2 p.m.

2 p.m. - 8 p.m. - Tip-Off Tailgate at Nicollet Mall

6:30 p.m. - College hoops awards show at Minneapolis Convention Center-the most prestigious annual men's college basketball awards, also includes interviews live on stage with head coaches from the teams that reach the championship game. Tickets cost $10-$80

A few weeks ago, Zedd celebrated a career milestone as ‚ÄòStay‚Äô reached #1 at Top 40 Radio in the U.S., thanks the 570+ number of fans who streamed it on Spotify, Apple Music, YouTube, Pandora and SoundCloud.

If you were watching television, Zedd was joined by Alessia to perform the hit single on the season finale of ‚ÄúThe Voice.‚Äù The two will reunite later this summer as Zedd will appear on ABC‚Äôs ‚ÄúGood Morning America‚Äù Summer Concert Series on July 21 in New York City's Central Park.

Australia‚Äôs Creo just announced their upcoming EP called Subtitles for X, Y, Z, due for release on August 25th.
Can‚Äôt wait until August ? The band previewed the second track called ‚ÄòGive Me Yours‚Äô on themusic.com.au.

Singer Jorjee Haman talked about the single, ‚ÄúI go through these waves of emotions where I want something so bad I‚Äôll kick everything I know and love to get it. ‚ÄòGive Me Yours‚Äô is all about that undying desperation to achieve, love and be loved or in more general terms; whatever it is you long for that nothing else in the world matters anymore, almost to the point of an unhealthy obsession.‚Äù

Japanese trio Boris will be performing Pink in its entirety to celebrate the 10th Anniversary of their record.
That‚Äôs not all, you can get a chance to pick up a new Deluxe Edition of Pink, featuring the original track listing, plus unreleased tracks on a glorious 3xLP box set or 2xCD set.

It‚Äôs hard to believe that Boris still maintained their classic trio lineup for over 20 years and really hasn‚Äôt showed signs of slowing down.

Popstar Kesha is now free to work on (new) music (Zedd and Kesha's recent single ‚ÄòTrue Colors‚Äô is out now on Interscope / Kemosabe / RCA Records).
It should be noted that ‚ÄòTrue Colors‚Äô is Kesha's first music in over three years since her court case with former producer Dr. Luke.

The new tour is called ‚ÄúF**k the World‚Äù tour, and billed as Kesha and the Creepies, which we are assuming The Creepies is her live band.

Kesha adds, ‚ÄúThe day has come that I, now, present to you, Kesha and The Creepies. This project and upcoming tour comes from my deep eternal love of dirty rock & roll and country music. I thrive from making and performing music, and much like a flower with no sun, my soul slowly dies when I don't get to create and perform. So, for a short ride and in mostly small intimate venues, I will be performing a new creepy creation. It's been too long. Until I can release my own music I will be reinventing some of my old songs and some of my favorite songs from my musical idols. I've hand picked songs from artists that have helped shape who I am and the music I make today. I have missed you, all of you, so if you would like to boogie, come join us.‚Äù

Although most fans may know her from autotuned pop hits like ‚ÄòTiK ToK‚Äô and ‚ÄòWe R Who We R‚Äô... from the sound of it, she is changing her music direction to more southern rock and country music and will mostly play new ‚ÄòCreepy‚Äô Will fans follow her in this new venture? Based on the sold-out status of the upcoming Aria show... yes, of course.

The annual KDWB Jingle Ball show is taking place over at the Xcel Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
The cheapest and so-called "The Worst Seats in the House" for KDWB JingleBall is "only $20"
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The annual KDWB Jingle Ball is this Monday at the Xcel Energy Center in St Paul. According to their bylines, 101.3 KDWB is the Twin Cities No. 1 Hit Music Station.

If you can make it, arrive super early (at 3pm) for the official KDWB Jingle Ball Pre-Party at Roy Wilkins Auditorium to see Shawn Mendes, Becky G, Charlie Puth, Daya, DNCE, Alessia Cara and R. City for absolutely free (you do no need a Jingle Ball concert ticket to attend).

Australia's Jack Ladder And The Dreamlanders will be stopping by the 7th Street Entry in Minneapolis this Tuesday in support of their U.S. debut Playmates (Fat Possum).

Playmates is Jack Ladder's fourth album, his previous two albums (2008's Love Is Gone and 2011's HURTSVILLE) were shortlisted for the AMP (Australian Music Prize)... so expect similar accolades for the recent record. The former bassist for Expatriate showcased his granite baritone vocal style against Sharon Van Etten as guest on the new album. On working with Ladder, Van Etten noted, "When I first saw Jack Ladder...it blew me away. He's got a darkness to his vocals and lyrics but with a wink. It was really fun and an interesting challenge and his songs are killer. I feel lucky to have been a part of it."

Jack Ladder And The Dreamlanders recently wrapped up their Australian tour as lead support for Florence + The Machine and will be in the United States for a brief December tour.

Acclaimed husband-and-wife team Johnnyswim will be heading out on their second annual "A Johnnyswim Christmas Tour" this December, stopping by the Varsity Theater in Minneapolis on Tuesday, December 8th.

The band will perform songs off their A JOHNNYSWIM Christmas EP, available digitally now, as well as other holiday favorites.

We previously caught the duo (Amanda Sudano-Ramirez and Abner) twice at the Varsity Theater in
2014 (02/18/14 and 08/04/14) noted that Minneapolis is their favorite city to play in.